On Neglecting the Environment

The most valuable thing in any developed society is human life and health. That is why developed countries put life and health first, and everything else second. I was recently in Spain, where I visited one of the largest plants producing stone-and-polymer tiles. It is a highly hazardous line of work, with both dust and chemical fumes. When we arrived at the plant, we were given respirators and put them on, but inside the production halls the air was perfectly clean. I took my respirator off and did not feel at all that we were in a hazardous facility. I asked the management about it. They confirmed that for them, environmental protection and public health are not just words: it is simply impossible to open a plant without aspiration and filtration systems, just as it is impossible to open one if there is even the slightest threat to human life and health. What is more, they have installed their own water treatment facilities and, after treatment, use the wastewater of the nearby town in their production, while more than half of the plant's electricity is generated by solar panels.

In Kazakhstan, environmental protection, industrial safety and occupational health receive attention only when something extraordinary or catastrophic happens, and even then the response is mostly reactive and formal.

In the course of my work I have visited many industrial facilities, and I can say with certainty that almost all of our enterprises would be shut down in developed countries for failing to meet environmental, industrial safety and occupational health standards.

At our enterprises, these issues get attention only after an emergency or an accident, and even then it is mostly for show. What is most striking is that our environmental inspections produce no results. If we are to believe their measurements, everything is fine. Yet every year Kazakhstan sees a rising number of cancer cases and of workplace injuries (more than 2,500 injuries and deaths a year), while the akims blame mostly cars, residents who burn coal, and an unfavorable wind rose. Meanwhile, anyone who visits Temirtau, Ekibastuz, Ust-Kamenogorsk or Almaty will immediately experience all the delights of the "clean" air for themselves.

When I ask workers informally how inspections of our industrial giants go, they say that every such inspection is announced in advance, and on the day of the inspection production is simply halted wherever possible.

Our country is already at a stage of development where we can afford to compel and motivate our enterprises, such as mining and processing plants, thermal power plants, metallurgical complexes and so on, to adopt international standards. This is an investment not only in people, but also in the towns and cities near which these facilities are located.

I am no great expert on our inspection system in this area, but as far as I know, inspections are carried out by the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Ecology is responsible for the environment, and the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development oversee the development of these sectors. With such a structure, it is very difficult to change anything fundamentally. In my view, inspections should be unannounced, and they should be conducted by environmental specialists. The environmental protection section of a project design takes the longest to approve, yet it has little real effect. I believe requirements should be tightened at the design stage, and facilities should not be allowed to be commissioned without verification that environmental standards have been met. We should invite an international company to conduct a full environmental audit of all large companies and to identify every deficiency that needs to be corrected. In developed countries, investment in treatment facilities accounts for at least 20% of total investment in building an enterprise, yet for some reason companies operating in our country are in no hurry to observe such proportions. Even China, with its enormous population, has over the past several years nearly caught up with Western countries in workplace safety and environmental protection. So why, in our country, do economic goals come before protecting the health of generations of our citizens?